Coast to Coast Sjoggies

Philly photos mine. What a great trip. 

Have y'all noticed that my posts for the past week or so have been brief and contain very little Sjogren's related info?

I've been slacking off. Which is the prerogative of the owner of a blog, I guess.

So the reason for my lackadaisical posting is that I've been preoccupied with a few things, one being getting the house and my frame of mind situated for my surgery next week. But another reason is been a great deal of fun.

Fun is a very good thing.

Some friends of mine made the long flight from Philadelphia to good ol' Portland to come see us, woo hoo! They're a wonderful young couple that I met awhile back while Terese and I had made a trip to the City of Brotherly Love. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Jenny and her husband Shawn, and we've stayed in close contact ever since. Over the years of our friendship, I realized that despite our age difference -- she's just a young thing -- we have so many things in common. She too deals with Sjogren's syndrome and other autoimmune disease but more importantly, my Bratty Inner Child Julia has a much younger East coast clone: Bratty Inner Child Jennifer. How amazing is that? We simply had to meet.

It was four years ago almost to the exact date: October 23rd, 2010:

I have enjoyed corresponding with sjoggie Jenny Pettit, author of UII - Understanding Invisible Illnesses, for a few years now. She is an intelligent, articulate and enthusiastic young woman who juggles her significant autoimmune disease, career, marriage, volunteer work at her church, advocacy campaign for people with invisible illness in her workplace, and in her spare time? Writes a blog. 

Yes, she is an over-achiever. 

When I realized that I was traveling to Philly for the webinar project, AND that Jenny lives in Philadelphia, I was hopeful that we could arrange to meet in person. And we did! Jenny and her husband very generously offered to pick Terese and I up at our hotel.
It was easy to identify the attractive young lady that walked into our hotel lobby - we hugged, and began yakking immediately. It was great - after all of our message exchanges and reading each other's blogs, I felt as though we had known each other for years. The four of us spent the entire evening together and what a gift that time was.
Yes, we had many laughs and stories to exchange, but what was special for me was the opportunity to spend time with someone who, although is disgustingly much younger and far more attractive than I, actually shares many of my same circumstances......continue reading here. 

Jennifer and her husband Shawn arrived on Thursday and we -- meaning John and me and Terese and Greg -- have kept these two hopping. I'll post more about our adventures later, so stay tuned.

Jennifer? Honey? Remember our conversation last night during which you told me I had your permission to blog about your visit?

Bwahahaha. Just sayin'.